Achunabust
Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)
Site Name Achunabust
Classification Broch (Iron Age)(Possible)
Canmore ID 7389
Site Number NC96SE 7
NGR NC 9943 6463
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/7389
- Council Highland
- Parish Reay
- Former Region Highland
- Former District Caithness
- Former County Caithness
NC96SE 7 9943 6463.
(NC 9943 6463) Brough (NR)
OS 6"map, Caithness, 2nd ed., (1907)
The ruins of this broch are covered by a grassy hillock 6ft high; the outline of the broch exposed at one or two points indicates an overall diameter of about 53ft. A chamber has been revealed on the W, and there appears to have been numerous outbuildings on this side.
RCAHMS 1911.
The much mutilated, grass-covered remains of a broch, measuring overall 30.0m in diameter and 0.2m high. The actual wall of the broch, fragments of which can be seen in the N and S, appears to have been 4.0 to 5.0m wide and the internal diameter 8.0 to 9.0m. In the SE there is the opening of a chamber measuring 1.4m by 1.0m. No trace of any outbuildings associated with the broch could be found. The grass-covered footings which can be seen to the S are of two comparatively modern rectangular buildings.
Resurveyed at 1:2500.
Visited by OS (R D) 13 November 1964.
(NC 9943 6463) Broch (NR)
OS 6"map, (1963)
The remains of a broch surviving as a turf-covered mound 1.3m high which has been extensively quarried so that the broch shape is destroyed. The mural cell with its entrance to the broch interior survives. Immediately to the W of the broch are the footings of a recent rectangular building with an attached enclosure; disturbed ground around the broch may indicate associated outworks.
Visited by OS (N K B) 16 November 1981.
Publication Account (2007)
NC96 2 ACHUNABUST ('Brough') NC/9943 6463
Probable broch in Reay, Caithness, consisting of a grassy hillock 1.83m (6ft) high; the wallfaces are exposed in places and suggest an overall diameter of 30.0m and an internal one of 8.0 - 9.0m[1]. Traces of an intra-mural chamber, aligned east-west, can be seen on the south-east with a doorway to the interior.
Sources: 1. NMRS site no. NC 96 SE 7: 2. RCAHMS 1911a, 94-5, no. 351: 3. Mercer 1985, 158, no. 24.
E W MacKie 2007